Strong pitching has been overshadowed by fielding errors, a trend the ISU softball team said it hopes to reverse in a hurry.

Errors doomed the Cyclones last weekend, costing them three games at the Crowne Plaza Classic in Houston. They fought through the defensive lapses to pull out two wins, pushing their record to 3-6 on the season.

“I think it’s a situation where we just need to practice more and really eliminate those errors,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt.

In Iowa State’s 6-0 loss to Wichita State and 4-1 loss to No. 25 BYU, the team committed four errors, which resulted in seven of the 10 runs. The errors covered up solid pitching performances by both Amie Ford and Alyssa Ransom. Ford took the loss against Wichita State after striking out 10, allowing only one earned run, as well as the loss to the University of Houston, 2-0, after allowing only three hits and retiring the final 11 batters she faced.

“Our pitchers have done a great job of not getting down when the defense has made some errors, and they have made some great pitches when they had to,” Gemeinhardt said.

Ford, however, pushed her record to 2-3 by overcoming five Cyclone errors with a 4-3 win over Texas State, and Ransom went six innings, giving up one earned run, returning to form for her first win of the season over Rhode Island 7-4.

Ford and Ransom lowered their earned run averages to 1.07 and 2.16, respectively.

Errors would have been responsible for a loss against Texas State, if not for some late-inning heroics.

Texas State used three errors by the Cyclones in the top of the fourth inning to score three runs and take the lead 3-1. The Cyclones rallied in the bottom of the seventh and came back to win 4-3 when Katie Reichling hit a fly ball to drive in the winning run from third base.

“Last week we really concentrated on – no matter what the score is – not giving up, and not conceding to a loss,” Gemeinhardt said. “I think it paid off this weekend.”

Gemeinhardt also said she hopes her team could learn something from the come-from-behind win, and use it for the remainder of the season.

“We as a team need to make that connection between not giving up no matter what and being able to come back,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll learn that no matter what the score is, as long as the game isn’t over, there is always a chance.”

Reichling had a tough Florida State tournament, in which she committed four errors, and was removed from her position at third base. She moved to the outfield this weekend, and her game-winning fly ball capped off a rebound weekend for the Cyclones, which included no errors, three runs batted in and a home run for the Cyclones four-hole hitter.

“I knew that she would work through it, so I was happy for her that she was able to come out this weekend and get some hits,” Gemeinhardt said. “She needs to hit the ball when people are in scoring position.”